


young hearts feel passion strong, fast, and blind

by stellarisms



Series: 2020 Writing Challenge [14]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: (a spoiler for a future fic for ya i guess), (theyre called undines in this fic c:), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Demigods, Elves, Hybrids, Introspection, Merpeople, Self-Discovery, the summary: yoo kihyun works his way up in the world and finds his soulmate along the way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22309231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarisms/pseuds/stellarisms
Summary: Right on the verge of his two year friendsversary with Hyungwon and Minhyuk, three years into coming to the Surface, Kihyun opens the newly-built Club Landlocked.Along with five of the most amazing friends an Undine could ever have, Kihyun meets someone on Club Landlocked’s opening night.Someone that steals his breath away.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Hoseok | Wonho, Lee Jooheon/Lee Minhyuk, Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun, joominkyun implied toward the end but not The Focus of this fic
Series: 2020 Writing Challenge [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588921
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	young hearts feel passion strong, fast, and blind

**Author's Note:**

> way, way far behind in this personal challenge of mine (work + life have kicked my /ass/) but this. is the restart of fics coming back daily.
> 
> hope yall enjoy <3

Ever since Kihyun left his home underwater behind, he’s been slowly catching on fire.

Slowly but surely.

Ever so surely, he’d begun to feel... _warmer_. Less complacent. Unshed energy, filling up a giant container.

Within him, Kihyun could feel something growing.

Kinetic energy. Potential energy. All sorts of energy, rising to his fingertips-- reverberating, like a melody through him, like intuition.

He worked part-time jobs, mostly retail and food service, while the Underground shelter gave him a place to shower, sleep, and sit down for midday meals.

Early morning shifts soon became closing shifts, overnight shifts, and graveyard shifts. 

He saw more of the stars than he did the sunrise, at some point.

He saved, saved, saved - and got a cell phone, one of the best human-made investments he ever made. 

Once he was connected to the online world, he took up a side hobby of recording song covers and - by request - began performing once or twice a month at buskings.

His hobby led him to meet people who worked hard to make their dreams come true, too - **friends** , real friends, good friends. Friends that would become his flatmates, eventually, and were non-humans just like him.

Friends who - one glorious day in September - discovered he was living out of a shelter and immediately offered him to pay them ⅓ rent to live in an apartment.

Hyungwon and Minhyuk were good to him.

Hyungwon, a lion-hearted Half-Elf who left the relative safety of his forest at Gwangju’s borders, who followed a Seer’s words to Seoul that he would meet his soulmate here.

Minhyuk, an upbeat Hybrid whose latent Phoenix powers manifested after a workplace robbery gone wrong, who functioned as Kihyun’s (self-proclaimed) manager and best friend.

They were so, so good to him.

So how could Kihyun possibly say no to them?

Never.

* * *

With all that they’d **all** been through, that was probably why - after opening the door to find a bloodied and haggard Hyungwon carrying an equally injured Undine on his back - he didn’t say no when they decided to shelter Hoseok, too.

Another flare tossed into the prye.

Another thing to stoke the flame.

* * *

‘Something’ was about to change him.

‘Something’ was on the verge of happening.

‘Something’ was coming this way.

Kihyun couldn’t shake the feeling, lately, and he’d begun to wonder how he never saw the signs that he was only part Undine.

Those with Fae blood can have Seer abilities, right? He’d read it somewhere in the archives online. 

And the fact that his intuition hadn’t steered him wrong yet, on top of the emotive reading he can do of countless strangers who mean him and his flatmates harm…

Speaking of which-- 

Hoseok.

Hoseok was adjusting rather well to life in their shared apartment over the last few months.

He’d almost ended up in captivity, Kihyun surmised, prior to Hyungwon finding and saving him. 

Hoseok was a **gem** , however, and the best possible new addition to their already comfortable company.

Hyungwon gained a roommate who could clean up after himself, cook for himself - better than Kihyun could, according to Minhyuk, and he was the pickiest eater - and shattered Hyungwon’s cynical shell in no time at all.

(Kihyun suspects a mutual crush, if he’s honest. 

Hyungwon is a sweetheart, but it took him three whole months to openly refer to him as his friend. 

Minhyuk, Hyungwon’s childhood friend, confirmed that Hyungwon is only sociable and generous after he trusts someone, but Hoseok has asked him for multiple favors and Hyungwon dropped everything for every one of them.)

Minhyuk gained a new companion who would accompany him to the gym and the club, a new cuddle buddy - one that loved Minhyuk’s natural emanating body warmth and visiting the surf shop Hoseok works at part-time.

(Minhyuk might have been a dolphin or, perhaps, an Undine in a previous life.

He loves the ocean so much, it rivals Hoseok’s longing to find his long-lost family under the sea.

They surf and frolic and relax at the water’s edge for the time being, though, and that seems to be enough for them both.)

And Kihyun?

Kihyun hasn’t found a single thing not to love about Hoseok.

Hoseok was a sweetheart - and, while Kihyun suspects he’s older than he seems, Hoseok deserves to feel content every single day.

(He’s had Hoseok feature in some of his song covers and livestreams whenever their schedules align.

Hoseok lives for being the star of the show for a bit, while Kihyun is amused by some of his longtime viewers joking they’ll defect and become ‘Won-tokki stans’ if Hoseok were to start his own channel.

Kihyun doesn’t doubt that, but he doesn’t doubt that Hoseok’s struggling self-confidence would improve if he did, too.)

* * *

From what Hyungwon told him, Hoseok had been on the run from some rather unsavory ‘researchers’ who scoured the district for homeless Magicfolk. 

They were scientists and biologists who hold legitimate degrees and licenses, but they also hold the belief that anyone who wasn’t human was inferior and didn’t deserve the right of consent forms before they were treated like lab rats and experimented on.

Some, Kihyun had heard, were also human **_and_ ** Magicfolk traffickers.

Sick, sick people.

* * *

Kihyun used his glamour to cloak and avoid ‘researchers’ many an early-morning walk home before.

He’s grateful to have Hyungwon, Minhyuk, and Hoseok now. 

Hyungwon has a car and works in the same district during the day, so he picked Kihyun up whenever he was done in the evening. 

Minhyuk, conversely, encouraged him to take his current job further out in the city, given that researchers have been running rampant around this area these days.

And Hoseok--

As a fellow Undine and possibly the most _muscular_ Undine that Kihyun’s ever known, there’s no way anyone would mess with Kihyun with Hoseok’s protective hold on his waist while they walked.

He thinks--

No, Kihyun **knows** he should make a safe haven for Magicfolk like him to be able to work and take refuge here in the Underground.

It was an idea he brought up at the dinner table one night, much to his friends’ surprise.

“You’re really gonna quit your job, Kiki?” Minhyuk’s jaw drops, spoonful of sauce-covered rice missing his mouth. “I thought your work eval went really good this year!”

“It did,” Kihyun dabs at Minhyuk’s chin with a napkin. “But they can always find another secretary, Min-ah.”

“Lots of young people want desk jobs these days,” Hyungwon adds on, agreeable. “If I didn’t just get promoted to shift manager at the bookstore, I’d work at your place for sure. Seems like my style.”

“Like they’d want a cranky old guy like you at the front desk,” Minhyuk rags, earning a solid sleeve-slap from Hyungwon next to him. “What! It’s true! Ya know they probably picked Ki ’cause he’s got a pretty face and a pretty voice.” 

“Or they know him from YouTube,” Hoseok jokes, looking from Kihyun to Hyungwon across the table. “Give our Wonnie a little bit of credit, though, Min!” Chin tucked under palm, serene smile on full display. “ _I_ think he’s got a pretty face....and pretty hands.”

Hyungwon chokes on his water, face red from ear to ear.

Kihyun hides a snort behind his hand and a fake cough.

Minhyuk looks _disgusted_ \- mostly at Hyungwon and Hoseok. At all of them, probably.

“Anyway,” Minhyuk huffs, sending the chuckling Hoseok one more glare before he grabs his almost-cleared plate to take it to the sink, “if you do establish your fancy nightclub for the magically-inclined, **please** keep these lovebirds working separate. For the sake of everyone’s sanity.”

* * *

(The low-burning flame in Kihyun’s heart grows brighter with each passing day, with each added zero to his savings account.

What a world to live in, where everyone could belong like the four of them have become.

Like family, where you can count on someone to be around whenever you need them.)

* * *

Minhyuk’s new friend from his warehouse job, Jooheon, is a weredragon.

Half-dragon, half-human...he thinks.

'He' being Jooheon himself.

A self-proclaimed Beast, fiery and full of compassion, Jooheon is the first were-being Kihyun’s ever met.

Minhyuk thinks he’s “adorable.”

“He’s a Hybrid like you, Min.” Hyungwon reminds him from his place on Minhyuk’s lap, eyes closing to Minhyuk’s hair-stroking . “You think Hybrids were ‘born cute.’”

“We are,” agrees Minhyuk. He’s snuggled up on the couch between Hoseok and Hyungwon, currently texting the dragon hybrid in question. “But he’s, like, ridiculous cute! Like, cute enough to eat. Like, dumpling cheeks, just the right amount of height and broadness...he’s perfect. The best. I wish I could draw so I could show--”

“You’ve shown off plenty of selfies and candid shots of him on Twitter,” Kihyun points out. He doesn’t want to laugh, either, but Minhyuk’s enthusiasm makes it so hard. “Also, why do you sound like a schoolkid with the biggest crush?”

“I don’t!” Minhyuk doesn’t quite blush, but he sounds...put-out? Sheepish? Like he hadn’t recognized himself how his effusive praise makes him sound. “Jooheonie is just sooooooo cute, okay. We’re friends! Just friends!”

“Sure, Min.” Kihyun towels his hands dry, coming around the kitchen counter. “And it’ll snow tomorrow, twenty-six days into August.”

“My love for him is _pure_.” Minhyuk insists. “I’m serious! It’s not like that, Kiki, I swear--”

“I’m sorry,” Hoseok guffaws, “but did everybody else miss when you came home after that mixer drunk off your ass and kept on going on about how good his ass looked in those leather pants? Or was that only me you told?”

Minhyuk scowls at him, breaking Kihyun’s remaining thread of restraint.

Hoseok howls and Hyungwon - who was well on his way to falling asleep - opens one bleary eye with visible annoyance.

“I hate everyone in this house right now,” Minhyuk _hisses_ , only to drop his indignation the instant his phone rings. “Oh! Is he here already? ...Hey, are you downstairs? Ahh, three minutes…? Okay, okay, no prob! Was curious s’all. And a lil’ excited. I like spending time with you...yeah...me too, I’m really glad I get to see you today…’kay, sounds good! I’ll see you in a bit! Let me know when you’re outside...okay. See ya. Byeeeeeeeee.”

Kihyun and Hoseok exchange silence glances.

_Don’t say anything._

_I won’t if you don’t._

“Try not to,” Hoseok whispers with a smirk. Minhyuk gives him A Look; Hoseok puts both his hands up in show of surrender. “I was scolding Kihyunnie. Seemed like he wanted to comment...I told him to try not to.”

* * *

Minhyuk, not convinced in the least, goes to follow the chime of their building’s suite-specific bell instead of fighting back.

Kihyun considers it a win for him and Hoseok.

He’ll tease Minhyuk more once he and Jooheon leave for their outing, but - for now - he’ll stay quiet.

* * *

(He’ll never say he was too surprised - like it was meant to happen all along, like a conductor being struck by a lightning bolt after hours of being left out in a thunderstorm- when several months’ passing came, went, and brought Kihyun home at the end of a long workday to find Jooheon fast asleep on the couch wrapped in several blankets and Minhyuk’s arms.

Glistening and scale patches risen above the skin, as weredragons often are in post-coital bliss, snoring away.

“I won’t tell the others and I’m not mad, **relax**.” Kihyun cuts off Minhyuk’s stammering and apologizing. “But... for the love of Poseidon, Minhyukkie...clean the goddamn sofa before you go to bed. Please.”

Minhyuk, struck silent, only nods.

“Good,” Kihyun beams, about to turn on his heel for the bathroom until he remembers something. “Oh, and...since I won the betting pool? I’ll buy you dinner next weekend, if you’re interested. You and Jooheon are both invited, so please invite me to whenever the wedding is.”

“I-- _Kiki!!_ ”

“Bye. Don’t forget what I asked you to do. Goodnight~”)

* * *

Right on the verge of his two year friendsversary with Hyungwon and Minhyuk, three years into coming to the Surface, Kihyun opens the newly-built Club Landlocked.

Along with five of the most amazing friends an Undine could ever have, Kihyun meets someone on Club Landlocked’s opening night.

Someone that steals his breath away.

Someone who’s name he hasn’t even asked for yet, after two hours of being at the bar with him.

Someone that lights a fire in his heart he never, ever thought he’d experience again.

* * *

Kihyun’s had a few crushes here and there. Back home, on the Surface. 

Attractive people are in no short supply when you work in public spaces, and - every once in awhile - Kihyun would find a coworker or an associate good-looking. Tell the boys at home about it, get blasted for being too reticent and not Just Go(ing) For It. 

He wouldn’t do anything with a coworker, besides, because workplace relationships are never a smart idea.

And...he’s smarter than that. 

He knows feelings will fade over time, typically, or fade once the person - or him - leaves.

He’s old enough to know the difference between ‘like’ and ‘love,’ between ‘just for the night’ and ‘for always.’

‘For always’ is the way Hyungwon talks about wanting to stay close to Hoseok, about wanting to protect Hoseok from anything that would do him harm, in spite of both of them being terribly stubborn and insecure.

‘For always’ is the way Jooheon and Minhyuk talk about their newly discovered hybrid ‘baby’ Changkyun while they’re out visiting him at work, the way Minhyuk catches the youngest Hybrid by surprise with flowers and Jooheon clings to him whenever he comes to meet Changkyun on campus for lunch.

‘For always’ feels--

Unbearably idealistic. 

Something Kihyun would like, of course, but never could see himself believing in.

Until now.

“I think I might come here every Tuesday,” the handsome stranger in a suit grins. He has an eye smile to _die_ for and Kihyun feels his heart leap into his throat over the sincerity he speaks with. “Will you be here?”

“I’m the owner of this place,” Kihyun blurts out, against his better judgement. “I damn well better be here.”

“You’re...wait, what?” The man stills in mid-sip. “So you’re...not just a bartender?”

He’s as flummoxed as Kihyun **feels** , who realizes _that was such a stupid thing to say, wow, how do I put my entire fucking foot in my mouth and somehow reverse this conversation?_

“Ummmmm. Yeah.” Smooth, Kihyun. Very smooth. “Not for nothing, but thanks for at least vouching for my shitty drink-making skills?”

After the man downs his drink in two gulps, he places the glass down so abrupt Kihyun hears the _thunk_ over the music.

Which reminds him, Kihyun steals a glance in DJ H-ONE’s direction, why the hell is he playing nothing but remixes of love songs for the last hour?

This guy...probably was watching him struggle to flirt for double that time.

He’s gonna wring Hyungwon’s neck - and Hoseok’s, because he knows that asshole snitched - when he gets home in the morning.

“Then, I guess. While we’re being honest,” the man reaches into his suit and pulls out a faded, scratched up wallet that’s definitely not his wallet and _definitely has a silver badge in there, oh shit._ “Son Hyunwoo, former SPD agent. I used to be a rookie cop, got ‘promoted,’ managed to solve a whole buncha cases, got too deep into ‘something’ I wasn’t supposed to, and then...suffice to say, this badge is no longer valid. The division I was in and the precinct basically kicked me out...not for nothing, but tonight’s the first night I felt good about myself in almost a month.”

Kihyun’s mood plummets.

Not because he thinks he’s in trouble - that initial reaction is long over - but because he **feels** Hyunwoo’s internal pain.

Gods, he wishes he could turn his empath powers _off_.

“Hyunwoo-ssi…” Kihyun adjusts where his magnetic nametag lays on his apron. “You deserve to feel good about yourself when you’re here. With me or anyone here at Landlocked. That's why I established this place. I know we’ve only just met a few hours ago, but...”

“Is it crazy,” Hyunwoo lets out a derisive, weary laugh, “that I feel like I can trust you, knowing that?”

 _No_ , Kihyun wants to say. _Because I can’t explain why, but I feel the same way with you._

He waits on a word with bated breath, waiting for Kihyun’s answer.

Kihyun inhales, exhales, chooses his words carefully.

(He trusts that Hyunwoo is an ex-cop, but he’s not foolish enough to think it’s impossible they aren’t being surveillanced unbeknownst to the former agent.

He’s read about SPD, the Special Agents who work undercover for Seoul’s police, and the rumors of corruption running deeper there than in the main force.

He can almost hear Hyungwon’s warning voice in his head: _never reveal your true nature to mortals who can turn on you in a heartbeat._ ) 

“I obviously don’t know. What you’ve been through, what you’ve seen or heard. So I can’t say you’re crazy if you trust somebody like me this soon.” Kihyun recognizes the same applies to Hyunwoo, who hasn’t broken eye contact with Kihyun yet. “But I think I’m very well-versed with reading people, Hyunwoo-ssi...and you don’t strike me as someone who would deceive or mislead anyone."

"That’s why...I’ll trust you trusting me.”

_Least of all me._

_Please don’t turn out to be an awful person._

_Please don’t turn on me, if I told you who - what - I really am._

“Thank you,” says Hyunwoo at length. Features spreading into a smile, the same way a blossom unfurls. **_Beautiful_ **. Kihyun is disgusted at himself and, frankly, a bit more than terrified at the wave of affection that washes over him. “That’s enough for me. I think...I’ll have to come back to see you, Kihyun-ssi. So I can get a weekly dose in.”

“Hmm? Weekly dose?” Kihyun leans his elbows on the counter with a playful little head tilt. “Of alcohol or me?”

Hyunwoo, surprising them both (the taller man swallows a near-audible gulp before he acts), takes Kihyun’s right hand in his.

It’s a single touch, so _simple_ , but Kihyun feels his entire body react.

Like he’s being magnetized, with Hyunwoo as the direction he’s moving in, moving toward.

(Illogical as the thought of it is, Kihyun wants to wrench out of Hyunwoo’s hold.

Pull him across the counter by his collar and kiss him, maybe.

Get closer any way he possibly can, because - gods, he’s never believed in love at first sight up until tonight, but if it exists, Kihyun thinks he could find it with someone like Hyunwoo.)

“If I’m being honest,” Hyunwoo draws into Kihyun’s space, using their height difference to his advantage so their faces hover mere inches apart, “both are worth coming back for...but ordering drinks from you means I get to spend more time with you.”

(Gentle-voiced, genial Hyunwoo.)

“Flatterer.” Kihyun sniffs, though his upturned lips speak a different story. “I don’t give discounts out for free, if that’s what you’re aiming for. Or my trust.”

Hyunwoo only laughs.

This cute, cheeky, tall and handsome **_bastard_ **.

“Incentive for me to work harder,” Hyunwoo retorts, tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps it’s the liquor, or the effect of the dim lighting, but Kihyun thinks he spots color rising to his cheeks as he says it. “I’ll win you over sooner or later, Kihyun-ssi. All in due time.”

* * *

(And Kihyun?

Fire in his heart, ocean in his soul--

Kihyun **_believes_**.)


End file.
